Improvement in barrel-filling- apparatus with whistling indicators



ntrd (glatte strut @time IIIRAM S. PHILLIPS, OF SWICKLEY, PENNSYLVANIA.A

Letters Paten-t N 96,833, dated November 16, 1869.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all wh'om yit they concern -Be it,known that I, HIRAM S. IHILnIrs, of the borough of Sewickley, iu the county of` Allegheny, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Indicating BarrelI `iller; and I do hereby declare the following to be a `iull, clear, and exact description thereof'.

In carrying on the trade in petroleum-oils, considerable quantities ofthe crude material are stored in tanks, or tansported in bulk, in bulk-oil boats, or in large tanks mounted on cars, or built into ocean or river-vessels. y

It is usually necessary, at some pointhetween the .well and refinery, to barrel. the oil, in doing' which, a considerable quantity of' oil, inthe aggregate, is lost, from the fact that it is 'not easy toascertainjnstwhen each barrel is full, so as to check or stop the flow at' the right moment. v

Various whistling contrivances have been invented and used in connection with a funnel, for indicating when the barrel was full, none of which, itis believed, are free from objections.

My invention relates to the construction of devices for this purpose; and thenature ofl it consists in the construction of an indicating barrel-filler, having airpassages up through the discharge-pipe of' the funnel, one of which has a whistle or other like alarm-attachment, the 4lower openings of such air-passages bcing so arranged that the escaping air will give no alarm till the barrel is nearly full, and at that point the current of air will be cut ofi' from all or nearly all the tubes except the whistling-tube, and when the barrel is entirely full, or as full as may be desired, the whistling-tube will be closed, and thus give notice to the person in charge to cut olf the supply.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and mode of operation, referring, foi-that purpose, to the accompanyingdrawing, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical section of' my improved barrel-filler, and

Figure 2 is a cross-section through the line :t ai, fig. 1. v

-Like letters of reference indicate like parts in each.

The supply-pipe a, isconnectcd, by a cock, pump, or otherwise, with the receptacle containing the fiuid in bulk, and open's directly or indirectly into a discharging or funnel-pipe, l), a cock, c, being arranged in connection witheither, to cutoff' or stop the fiow atany time.

rIhe main part or body of the pipe 11,1 prefer to make of' cast-metal,with a number of' grooves ortlutings, c e i, in its outer face, and over these slips a close-fitting sleeve or casing, l1', whereby I secure a number of air-passages through the substance or body of the pipe b.

Attached to the upper part ot' the pipe b is a basin or furmel, d, of such dimensions zy may be desired, open at the top, and making a tight joint below with the outer casing b of the pipe b, just below the upper open ends of' the air-passages e c'.

Below the basin d, an adjustable collarf is fitted on to the pipe b. This I make preferably of' taper form, and of' about the size ofthe bung-hole of' the barrels to be filled, so that it will rest snugly therein. Bya setscrew, gv, it may be adjusted higher or lower on the pipe b, at pleasure.

rIhe lower open ends of the air-passages e are arranged at such points that they willnot be closed by the oil in thc barrel till the barrel is nearly full. The lower end of the whistling-tube i, (which may be arranged in one of the lintings, or itself be one of the iutings Iabove described,) opens at a point, o, a little above the lower open ends ofthe air-passages c, and at any suitable point above, a whistle, t', or other suitable alarmdevice operated by a strong current of escaping air, is inserted or att-ached.

Vhile the barrel is heilig filled, `the air escapes readily through all the pipes or passages c e' li, but on ,account of the freedom of' its exit., it docs not escape with suliicient force to give any alarm; but as soon as the oil rises sufficiently high to close the lower ends of the air-passages c, the entire current ofcscaping air is turned into the whistling-tube-i, through the whistle i, by which alarm, the attention of the workman in charge is called to the f'act that the barrel is nearly full.

As the oil continues to flow in, it soon rises so` as to close the lower orifice o ot the whistling-tube i, when the whistling ceases, by which notice is` given that the barrel is full, and that the cock c should be turned so as to out olio the supply.

It is desirable, of' course, that the barrel should not be filled entirely full, and the block or collarf should be adjusted at suoli distance above the lower orifice 0 of' the whistling-tube yi, that with the manner of' use above described, the desired amount of space should be left unfilled. 3

The several parts named are manner known to the art.

If it'bc desired to introduce an alarm intermediate between the closing ot' the lower orifices of the tubes e and of the whistling-tube t', it may be done by making the lower orifice o of one of the air-passages e' at an intermediate point, as shown. Then, with the closing of the airpassages e, so much of the force of the escaping air as goes through the tube ,will cause the whistle c to sound but rm'iderately, and when the passage c is closed, the sound of the whistle will be intensified, and the person in charge will act accordingly.

The object of the basin Z is to catch any oil which fitted together in any is forced up the passages e e' by the pressure of the air conined in the barrel at the closing of the air-passages, since the sudden stoppage of the outow of the air, while the inflow of oil continues, will effect that result. When the cock c is closed, the oil in the basin d ows back into the barrel through the passages e e.

I do not limit myself to any particular construction of the pipe b, it being only necessary, aside from the arrangement of the oriiices of the air-passages, that separate pipes, tubes, or passages be provided for the inflow of the oil, and the outflow of air.

The grooves or lutings e e i may be made ou the inner face of the pipe b, instead of the outer face, and an inner casing be provided to cover them, or one pipe 'may be arranged within another, so as to leave an annular space between, which may be divided up by loiigitudinal diaphragms, or other modes of constructing the same may be adopted.

The whistle may be-arranged at any point in the tube i above the orifice o, and any other like alarm, operated bythe action of a current of air, may be substituted for the whistle with like eiect.

The invention described is applicable to the barrelling of other fluids than petroleum, and all such I include within the scope of my invention.

XVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The arrangement, in connection with a barrellling inlet-pipe, of a whistling-tube, t', the lower oritice o of which is a little above the lower orifices ofthe..

iVitnesses:

CHAS. C. TAYLOR, G. H, CHRISTY. 

